Improvement in sewing-machines



I. P. HICKS.

Sewing-Machine.

'Patented June 8,1875.

Unreal) STATES ISAAC P. HICKS, OF PINE PLAINS, NEV YORK.-

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 161,299, dated June 8, 1875; application filed March 4,1875.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IsAAc P. HICKS, of

, Pine Plains, in the county of Dutchess and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sewing-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification.

My invention consists in a novel combination of a single-grooved cam and a series of levers, whereby the needle, the shuttle, and the feed are all operated by said single groove.

The invention consists further in a novel construction of the feed-bar lever, whereby the motion of the feed-bar is regulated, in order to govern the length of the stitch.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a side view ot' my improved sewing-machine. Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken in the lineacfr of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a bottom view. Fig. et is a front view.

0n the rear portion of the table A rests a frame or casing, B, in which works the cam C, the shaft D of said cam having its bearings in the sides of the casing, and carrying at its rear end a fly-wheel, E, provided with a crankpin, e, for attaching the connecting-rod from the treadle. In the face ot' the cam C is a serpentine groove, c, having five turns or waves in each direction-that is to say, ive toward the front and ve toward the rear ot' the machine. To one side of the casing an elbow-lever, G, is pivoted, so as to oscillate in a vertical plane parallel with the axis of the cam. The long arm of this lever extends forward, and connects with the needle-bar F by a pivot, f, at its upper end. The short arm of the lever extends downward, and is provided with a stud, g, which extends inward and engages with the serpentine groove c in the cam G, so that as the cam revolves on its axis the lever G oscillates on its fulcrum. On the under side of the table A an elbow-lever, H, is pivoted, so as to oscillate in a horizontal plane. The long arm of this lever extends toward the front of the machine and carries the shuttle, and its short arm extends inward and is provided with a pin or stud, h, which engages with the groove cin the cam. A similar lever, J, is also pivoted on the under side of the table, so as to oscillate in a horizontal plane parallel with that of the lever H, but lower, so that the shuttle-carrying lever E1 works in a plane between the lever J and the under side of the table. The lever J has its fulcrum nearer the edge of the table Ythan the lever H, and its short arm is longer than the short arm ot said lever, and reaches to the end thereof,

so that the pin It, which serves to give motion to the lever H, extends downward through the short arm of the lever J, connecting the ends of the short arms of both levers, and giving motion to both at the same time, but causing their long arms to travel different distances, owing to the difference in the location of their fulcrums. The long arm of the lever J extends toward the front of the. machine, and operates the feed-bar. The outer portion of the long arm isforlred or divided into two elastic branches, jl jl, which pass throughan inclined slot, Z1, in the feed-bar L. The elastic branches jl jz are provided with two setscrews, kl 702, for expanding and contracting the width of the fork. The screw kl passes entirely through both branches, with its head resting against the outer side ot' the branch jl, and its thread engaging with a thread in the branch j2. The screw k2 passes through only the branch jl, with its thread engaging with a thread in said branch, and its point bearing against the inner side of the branch jl. The fork is expanded by loosening the screw kl, and then adjusting the screw k2 to bear against the inner side of the branch jl, and is contracted by loosening the screw k2 and tightening up the screw kl. The feed-bar L is attached to a suitable bracket or support on the under side of the table by means of a screw, mx, passing loosely through a slot, l2, in the feed-bar, and entering the bracket. The outer portion ot' the screw mX is surrounded by a spiral spring, m, the ends of which bear against the feed-bar and the head ofthe screw, which spring and screw-head are inclosed by a cap, M.

As the cam C revolves, the engagement of its serpentine groove c with the short arms oi' the elbow-levers Gr, H, and J imparts motion to the needle, shuttle, and feed, and the parts are so arranged with relation to each other that motion is imparted to each at the proper time. There being five double curves to the cam-groove, one revolution of the cam produces five stitches; and, as the engagement of the needle-bar lever G with the cam-groove is at a point about one-quarter of a circle disrant from the point of engagement of the shuttle-lever H and feed-lever J, the needle is always down when the shuttle goes through the loop, and always upwhen the feed carries the cloth forward. As the forks jl .i2 of the feed-lever move in the inclined slot Z1 toward the right hand in Fig. 4 of the drawing, the feed is depressed away from the cloth and carried backward; and, as the lever moves in the opposite direction, the feed is raised and carried forward so as to feed the cloth to the needle, the pressure of the spring m in the cap M being sufficient to prevent the feed-bar from moving forward until it has been raised to the proper horizontal position. The stitch is lengthened or shortened by adjusting the setscrews 701 k2, so as to expand or contract the width of the fork, and thereby regulate its into branches jljz, provided with the set-screws k1 7a2, and the feed-bar L, having the inclined slot Z1, substantially as shown and described.

3. The combination of the cap M, spring m, and screw m", with the feed-bar L, having the slot Z2, as shown and described, for the purpose specified.

ISAAC P. HICKS. Witnesses:

JOHN STILLMAN, PHILIP Postr. 

